Hungary, the last holdout on Sweden's bid to join NATO, will vote on the issue on Monday, 26th of February. On Tuesday, Mate Kocsis, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, declared that during the parliamentary session slated for February 26, 2024, there will be a decisive vote regarding the Protocol of Accession of the Kingdom of Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty. Kocsis affirmed their group's intention to endorse Sweden's accession. 

This photo shows the Swedish and European flags in front of the Swedish Parliament and the Royal Palace in Stockholm, January, 2024. Photo by  Blondet Eliot/ABACA/PAP/Abaca

At the invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson will pay a working visit to Budapest on Friday, 23 February. The prime ministers will engage in discussions concerning defense and security collaboration, as well as prepare for Hungary's upcoming EU presidency during the latter part of the year.

The group leader of ruling Fidesz party Mate Kocsis has asked parliament to put the ratification of Sweden's accesion to NATO onto its agenda for Monday, 26 February, the first day of the national assembly's spring season. According to the letter to the Speaker of Parliament László Kövér Fidesz would "support the vote on the ratification bill".

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in May 2022, Sweden and Finland applied to join the military alliance. Finland became the 31st member of NATO in April 2023.

(J)